


House of Cards

by SnowyFrostShadow



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Gen, but i love him and live for gladstone and donald interacting in a semi-positive way, god they're such idiots, i have only seen one episode and read five comics with him
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 13:43:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12389265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowyFrostShadow/pseuds/SnowyFrostShadow
Summary: He's never been good with relationships.





	House of Cards

The day started normal enough.

He woke up at the perfect hour of 9'o clock sharp. Not too early, not too late. Stopped by a bakery that was having a '100th Customer Eats Free' Promotion.

Was of course Lucky number 100, and was just on his way to the park to either wait for money to fall into his lap or enjoy a perfectly pleasant day-he'd decide on the way-when on a whim, he decided to pick up a newspaper. It was, without a doubt, the worst decision he ever made.

In giant, bold letters across the entire front-page was the headline _**'**_ **NIECE OF THE RICHEST DUCK IN THE WORLD MISSING; PRESUMED DEAD'**

For once in his life, his luck failed him as every single one of his wishes and hopes were crushed the second he saw the photo of Della below the headline.

Proud, smiling, laughing Della.

Gone.

Dead.

_**No.** _

Gladstone narrowed his eyes as he roughly slammed the blasted, _slanderous_ piece of filth into a pocket. Della could not be dead. She had three children to raise-she'd been so excited over them-and was much too stubborn to go and get herself lost.

He snorted. Della Duck _lost_.

The idea was absurd. The woman had an internal compass so on point, that she was able to fly anywhere her heart desired without need of a map. The only question now, was who of his relatives to visit and find out more about this outlandish claim.

Uncle Scrooge would get straight to the point, but the old duck was probably working overtime to undo this messy bit of garbage the papers were running. Knowing him, that would be an all day affair and one that he himself would be pulled into helping with. Not that he'd actually mind this particular bit of hard work. He felt mad enough over the situation to start doing so this very moment.

However, a bigger part of him wanted to see Della herself. Ask if she'd seen the papers yet and have a laugh over how insane it all was.

Her lost. The very idea.

**...**

He wasn't worried when he didn't get an answer at her house.

Nor was he worried to see all the lights were off and the mailbox over flowingly full. Those were perfectly normal things. She, Donald, and Scrooge must have just gotten back from an adventure late and she hadn't time to pick up her mail yet. And chances were she was simply visiting Donald. The two never seemed able to stay apart for too long ~~something he'd always somewhat envied~~ and was probably over at his house.

If that was the case, she'd probably seen the paper already and was having a good laugh with her brother over it.

Lightly smiling at the thought, Gladstone made his way to Donald's house. With his sister and nephews over and another successful treasure hunt or whatever behind him, his cousin was sure to be happy to see him.

**...**

Ten minutes.

He'd been waiting _ten_ minutes for them to open the blasted door.

He knew they were here. He could see a couple of lights on and ever so faintly hear a baby crying.  

  "For the love of-it can't possibly take _both_ of them to handle one crying br-"

His annoyed muttering broke off as he saw the door handle turn.  

   " _Finally_ "

Pulling up an easygoing smile as the door opened, Gladstone, as well as a joke about waiting so long froze at the sight of his cousin on the other side of the door.

Donald looked terrible. And not his usual brand of terrible.

His eyes were red. Either from a lack of sleep or crying, Gladstone didn't know nor did he want to know. What was worse, was that Donald looked absolutely **_broken_**. Something which he never realized he'd never ever wanted to see.

They stared at each other for what seemed like eternity. One frozen stiff at the idea that one of worst nightmares may actually be true and the other beaten by living his. It was Donald who broke the silence. He gave a heavy sigh before moving out of the doorway and motioning to Gladstone.

  "You better come in. We-We have a lot to talk about..."

**...**

Thirty minutes later and he still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Della was gone.

It all seemed too impossible to be true. A stubborn part of him hoped that any second now, Della would walk through the door, a twinkle in her eye and yell 'Got ya!'. He knew that wasn't true though. That that would never happen.

The broken shell of his cousin across from him was all the proof he'd ever need. Donald was a god awful actor and Della would never in a million years dream of pulling such a mean spirited prank.  

It was that fact alone that really cemented things for him. Mostly.

He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to come to terms with her being....gone.  

  "So.....How's Scrooge handling all of...this?"

At the mention of their uncle, Gladstone noticed a little bit more life come into Donald. His tired eyes sharpened and if Gladstone hadn't known him for as long as he did, he'd be surprised at just how much his frown deepened.

  "I don't know. I'm not talking to him."

That surprised him though.  

 " _You're_ not talking to Uncle Scrooge? But like, aren't you two super close? For Pete's sake Donald, you've been going on adventures with him since you were what, seventeen?"    

   "Not. Anymore."

Gladstone blinked. He hadn't heard that much venom in Donald's voice since Della's deadbeat of an ex dropped off the face of the earth without a word. And for _Uncle Scrooge_ of all people to garner that much hate from _Donald_...

  "Geezus Don. What did he do?"

 "Everything. Nothing."

Gladstone watched as what little life there'd been in his cousin drained away with his anger. "It's complicated."

   "Well," He tried for a weak smile. "I'm all ears, maybe I'll be lucky enough to get it."

The smallest of smiles spread across Donald's bill. "Heh. Maybe." It quickly vanished though as he stared down at his hands.

  "I wish we never came across that stupid moon spear. Everything was normal, fine. Lost a few feathers over a few booby traps but heheh, just another Tuesday with _Scrooge McDuck_. Make it home in one piece and then not even a day later he makes her _go out to who knows where with the cursed piece of garbage_. **_Doesn't even tell me_**. Probably made her keep me out of the loop as well and next thing I k-know..."

He's never been affectionate.

Anyone who knows him can attest to that. But faster than he can blink, he's out of his chair and by his cousin's side.

He doesn't quite know what to do. Comfort has never been a strong suit. That's always been Donald or Della or even Fethery's thing. But he can't just sit there and watch Donald break down, his body shaking as he tries and fails to talk through his tears.

He doesn't know what to do.

He'd trade every single ounce of his luck to know what to do or even just have Della here instead and have none of this happen.

He can't do this. He can't possibly do this.

But he'll try anyway.

Tentatively, he puts a hand on Donald's shoulder. To his dismay, that seems to make Donald cry _harder_.

He's hoping that his insane good luck will grant him whatever magic words there are to make Donald stop. To make this whole mess of an afternoon better when he feels Donald freeze next to him. Belatedly, he realizes that the room has become dead silent. And then his cousin releases a shaky breath.

   "... _I can't do this Gladstone_. I can't raise her kids. I can't even hold a job for longer than a week. H-How am I supposed to take care of three kids? I-I'm going to ruin them just like I do everything el-"

  "Hey!"

Without even thinking about it, his grip on his cousin's shoulder has tightened and he's shaking him. Whether to shake some sense into him or just to shake whatever this garbage out of him, he isn't sure, but it seems to do the trick. Donald is looking at him in slight confusion and he isn't quite sure where he's going with this either but, if he's learned anything in life, it's to roll with it.  

  "I don't ever want to hear you say that junk again. And if Della was here, I'm sure she'd say the same thing. Do you really think she'd leave her kids with you for an hour let alone a weekend if she didn't think you could take care of them?"

 "T-This isn't quite a weekend thing tho-"  

  "Donald. D-Man. I've seen you take down bullies, thugs, and door-to-door salesmen three times your size. I've seen you dodge flaming rocks, darts, and pits full of snakes and that's not even scratching the surface of other insane things you've done with Scrooge. If you can handle all that, taking care of three kids should be a breeze. And if Della was here, she'd say the same thing. You know it, I know it, heck, I bet even her kids know it."

At that, Donald's expression softened. For the first time since he'd come in, Donald seemed to relax.  

  "Yeah." he snorted. "...I can't believe I'm saying this, but you might be right Gladstone."

 "Aren't I always?"  

   "Don't push it." Gladstone gave him a shrug before pulling a chair closer to his cousin. He may have by some miracle gotten Donald to relax, but even he could see there was still a weariness to his cousin eyes.

 "Now what?"

   "I just...how am I supposed to raise them? I can't look for a job and watch three newborns at the same time. I don't think I even have enough money to take care of them for a month."

 "Oh is that all?"  

   "What do you mean 'Is that all'? You may be able to coast on your good luck but not everyon-"  

 "Isn't it obvious Cuz? I'm going to help you."

Donald stared at him for a good five minutes. "You. _Luckiest Guy in the World_. Are going to help **me** take care of three kids. You didn't knock your head coming over here did you?"

 "Very funny. No." Gladstone gave him his biggest, widest smile. "What's that thing you always say? 'Family always helps family.' Well, we're family. You need help, and I can give it. What else is there to say?"

His cousin still seemed dubious, but that didn't worry him too much. Donald always did have a tendency to play things safe.

  "Coooome on D-Man," Gladstone slung an arm around Donald's shoulders "How hard could it be?"


End file.
